2nd Half Defense: What Happened

[pocoboy]

3 hours ago, CaptnCoke11 said:

I think the Bills defense will be more like the second half defense we saw yesterday.  Once Pittsburgh started pushing the ball somewhat down field more and putting pressure on our secondary they crumbled.  Levi Wallace is a major liability.  

 

It really lays suspect the McDermott/Beane obsession with drafting DL. This league is "throw it everywhere quick" and we're starting an undrafted player at CB2. It's not easy to get to good QB even when you beat your guy. Seems like these guys are a little behind in the times.

[LABILLBACKER]

4 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

They only gave up 16 points total.  They weren't the issue.

Exactly....a freak blocked punt and an OC who might've had on of his worst game. Giving them that field position really hurt off those embarrassing 4th down calls. But yes to a small degree, the D does tend to take the foot off the petal in the second half. It's like they're reacting to the offense's struggles.

[pocoboy]

6 minutes ago, CountDorkula said:

What happened?

 

The offense stopped scoring. 

 

The GR guys enjoy this "throw it 60 times" mentality because unless you have Brady or Mahomes or Rodgers you're losing, which gets them more listens than when they win. Nobody wants run heavy or balanced - but you have to make the defense respect the play action. That will create more room for a QB struggling with a little accuracy to fit balls.

[GunnerBill]

They hit a couple of big plays. The PI by Levi, the deep shot to Claypool where he made an incredible grab and the end around (where a clear hold on Oliver was missed). They basically had those 3 plays. That was it. 

[mannc]

4 hours ago, CincyBillsFan said:

I think two opposing things can be true at the same time:

 

1) The Bills D was not the main reason they lost.  They only gave up 16 points.

 

2) The 2nd half performance by the Bills D did contribute greatly to the loss.

 

The D allowed Pittsburgh to score 13 points on their first 3 drives of the 2nd half.  All three drives were long, time consuming drives that robbed the Bills of at least one and possibly two offensive possessions.

 

Now if the offense was firing on all cylinders it wouldn't have mattered.  But given the type of game it was the D's let up in the 2nd half combined with the blocked punt TD were major contributors to the loss.

 

Over the course of a long season the offense will win some games 38 - 31 but there are going to be times when the O is misfiring and we'll have to win a game 16 - 13.  Yesterday was a prime example of this.  And this thread is correct to point it out.

 

 

 

Exactly.  Those who are saying "hey, the defense only gave up 16 points in the game" are missing the point.  In the first half, our defense stonewalled the Steelers and got a lot of pressure on Roethlisberger; in the second half, the Steelers moved the ball easily and scored pretty much every time they needed to.  It was like two entirely different performances and the OP was right to question what went wrong in the second half.  The difference in QB pressures was obvious to the naked eye.  

[CountDorkula]

2 minutes ago, pocoboy said:

 

The GR guys enjoy this "throw it 60 times" mentality because unless you have Brady or Mahomes or Rodgers you're losing, which gets them more listens than when they win. Nobody wants run heavy or balanced - but you have to make the defense respect the play action. That will create more room for a QB struggling with a little accuracy to fit balls.

No.

 

Having an elite QB wins, how can anyone who has watched this team for the past 20 years not see this?

 

The Steelers were the worst running team in football last year.

The Bucs were not that far behind and just won the super bowl. 

 

[Blank Stare]

D was fine. Played well enough to win. Don’t get the Levi Wallace hate. Sure, he’s not Tre, but most aren’t. As we've all seen, you can do a lot worse than Levi Wallace. 
 

This loss is on two things to me: 1. a poor offensive game plan and even worse execution of that game plan; and 2. Inopportune bone headed special teams play on the blocked punt. 
 

We gave them this game. “Let them off the hook” as Denny Green would say. If the offense didn’t spend all day short circuiting, we win that game easily. 

[pocoboy]

37 minutes ago, CountDorkula said:

No.

 

Having an elite QB wins, how can anyone who has watched this team for the past 20 years not see this?

 

The Steelers were the worst running team in football last year.

The Bucs were not that far behind and just won the super bowl. 

 

Sure, when you go up against an elite QB who can score 50, you have to play shootout ball.

 

This game wasn’t that. It takes a good coach to understand the situation. Maybe some lays on Allen, there may be calls he made at the line which he chose to stay in pass mode. In any event, this game was lost on the punt block, but the offense had better sort out its woes quickly.

[CincyBillsFan]

4 hours ago, MasterStrategist said:

Not completely untrue, but some major things to consider.

 

1. 1st half our defense played way better than expected. To shut out a team with as many weapons as Steelers have is not easy.

 

2. Giving up 16 points in a single half, on paper seems below average.   But consider that Steelers were given great field position on 3 separate occasions (turnover and 2 4th down missed conversions).  Also, a couple key penalties provided them and extended drives/points.  Both penalties (White holding and Wallace PI) were questionable at best

 

3.  3 FGs and just 1 TD.  That's what our defense surrendered to a team with a HOF QB, a top 5 skille position group, and a new off coordinator that brings challenges to prepare for

 

Bottom line, nobody should be questioning the defense or its performance.  This was all on the offense/poor execution, poor pass protection by oline, 1 ST blunder, and 2-3 very bad playcalls that gave Pitt the momentum back.

 

We should have been leading by 14+ points after our 1st half defensive performance, and the great return by Isaih to start the game. 

 

On to week 2.  Up to the coaches and players to learn from these mistakes and become a better team from it.  Sometimes these losses can be the catalyst needed, or the measuring stick, to adjust future gameplans or personnel.  

Like I said before sometimes you have to win games 16 - 13 and sometimes you win them 38 - 31.  The defense played well for sure but their 2nd half performance was substantially less effective then the first half one.  The offense & special teams bear the most responsibility for the loss but to me yesterday was the very definition of a team loss.

 

[CountDorkula]

4 hours ago, pocoboy said:

Sure, when you go up against an elite QB who can score 50, you have to play shootout ball.

 

This game wasn’t that. It takes a good coach to understand the situation. Maybe some lays on Allen, there may be calls he made at the line which he chose to stay in pass mode. In any event, this game was lost on the punt block, but the offense had better sort out its woes quickly.

They just paid josh Allen 45 million dollars a year.

He is supposed to be that elite guy that can score 50, no?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

10 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

They only gave up 16 points total.  They weren't the ^ issue.

 

^major

^only

^(fill in your thing here)

 

Sorry but a defense that folds its lawnchairs in the 2nd half was absolutely an issue in the early part of last season and we saw it again on Sunday

It may not be the major issue, it certainly wasn't the only issue, but it is, by Jinx, an issue.

[CountDorkula]

1 hour ago, CincyBillsFan said:

Like I said before sometimes you have to win games 16 - 13 and sometimes you win them 38 - 31.  The defense played well for sure but their 2nd half performance was substantially less effective then the first half one.  The offense & special teams bear the most responsibility for the loss but to me yesterday was the very definition of a team loss.

 

Yea, the defense allowing the checks notes.

 

5th worst completion % from a QB

3rd fewest yards

5th fewest yards passing

9th fewest rushing yards

6th fewest points

 

 

Deserves some of the blame

Just now, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

^major

^only

^(fill in your thing here)

 

Sorry but a defense that folds its lawnchairs in the 2nd half was absolutely an issue in the early part of last season and we saw it again on Sunday

It may not be the major issue, it certainly wasn't the only issue, but it is, by Jinx, an issue.

see above

[Scott7975]

Pittsburg has a HOF QB and playmakers on their offense.  The defense played well enough.  Even in the second half.  They still only allowed 1 TD in that half.  Not going to hold that calibre of team down an entire game.  At least two of those drives were aided by penalty.  The TD drive was the PI on Wallace.  Probably a legit call but it was like 26 yards of that drive alone.  Another scoring drive was that PI on the White INT.  I thought that was BS but whatever.  Thats two of their 4 scores.

 

Personally I was proud of that D.  Wish we had it last season.  Thought they did a hell of a job.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Scott7975

[TheBrownBear]

Any time your defense holds the opponent to less than 300 total yards and/or less than 20 points in the modern NFL, they did a damn good job.  They made the Steelers earn every inch of turf.

[Dopey]

12 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Tight end seem route, and whoever Levi Wallace was supposed to cover seemed to be where they attacked with success. 

Steelers WRs out played/out muscled our CBs on a few plays. Even White gave up plays.

[Weatherman]

Bills have a better team, Steelers have better coaching.  Bills players won the first half even with the atrocious play calling.  Steelers coaching won the game because they had a better defensive game plan going into the game and made half time adjustments on offense / special teams to win the game.  It’s a game of chess and Mc D and Daboll got schooled Queens Gambit style.

Edited September 14, 2021 by Weatherman

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

12 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

I thought it was bad, but it was like 2 different halves.  Per NFL.com, "The Steelers scored 23 points after trailing 10-0 at halftime.  On their last four drives, they generated 231 yards and 13 first downs after opening the game with 22 yards and three first downs on their first 14 plays (6 drives)."  

 

I have no idea, wondering what everyone else thinks.  

 

The Steelers are not an elite offense by any means (Ben did not hit anyone over 20 air yards), and they started 4 new offensive lineman.  

 

As much as Daboll is rightfully taking flack for his game planning, what happened to the D?

 

 

 

Field position and special teams. I thought the defense played quite well and I'm pretty pumped for the season. I'm sure they'll win us a few close games when Allen is struggling as long as he doesn't turn the ball over. 

7 minutes ago, Weatherman said:

Bills have a better team, Steelers have better coaching.  Bills players won the first half even with the atrocious play calling.  Steelers coaching won the game because they had a better defensive game plan going into the game and made half time adjustments on offense / special teams to win the game.  It’s a game of chess and Mc D and Daboll got schooled Queens Gambit style.

 

Exactly. Coaches can have off games just as players do. This loss was 80% on the coaching. I don't think Mike Tomlin is overall better than McDermott at this stage of their careers, but he indeed had a better individual game than McDermott.

Edited September 14, 2021 by ChronicAndKnuckles

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

^major

^only

^(fill in your thing here)

 

Sorry but a defense that folds its lawnchairs in the 2nd half was absolutely an issue in the early part of last season and we saw it again on Sunday

It may not be the major issue, it certainly wasn't the only issue, but it is, by Jinx, an issue.

 

You can't keep giving Pittsburgh a short field and expect the defense to keep holding them. Putting up points also would've helped. 

[RyanC883]

14 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

 

Field position and special teams. I thought the defense played quite well and I'm pretty pumped for the season. I'm sure they'll win us a few close games when Allen is struggling as long as he doesn't turn the ball over. 

 

Exactly. Coaches can have off games just as players do. This loss was 80% on the coaching. I don't think Mike Tomlin is overall better than McDermott at this stage of their careers, but he indeed had a better individual game than McDermott.

 

The Defense was good in the first half, but "well," I think is too much praise, IMO.  4 new offensive lineman and one sack??  Too many 1st downs in the 2nd half when you must get the Steelers off the field.  Lots of quotes by defensive players such as Hyde regarding their subpar play down the stretch.   I also agree this game was a lot of coaching mistakes, I agree with 80%.  Mostly Daboll and McD, then you have uncharacteristically poor performances from Allen, really bad OL play, and Wallace getting abused.  

[Boatdrinks]

D was not elite, but they weren’t last year either, imo. The Bills offense failed to get in the end zone, convert on 4th down, and had several head scratching decisions by the coaches. Josh had another giveaway. The STs gave up a free TD. Ballgame.